The Fender® Custom Shop proudly introduces the new Yngwie Malmsteen Tribute Stratocaster® guitar (a.k.a. the “Play Loud” guitar) a meticulous  reproduction of Malmsteen’s beloved instrument, produced in limited edition. It is authentic in every detail, including the famous “Play Loud” sticker on the upper horn and, of course, the distinctive scalloped maple fingerboard. Like the original, it features DiMarzio® HS-3 pickups in the bridge and neck positions and a standard Fender ’70s-era middle pickup, with a  standard fender bridge, a large headstock and a battered olympic White finish expertly treated to mirror each of the original guitar’s many battle scars—the nicks, dings, scratches, burns and worn finish spots from decades of heavy use and abuse in Malmsteen’s masterful hands.

The Official Story...

Yngwie Malmsteen. The very name alone strikes awestruck wonder into the hearts of guitarists worldwide. The Swedish Stratocaster wunderkind; the fiery and flamboyant showman extraordinaire; the charmingly outspoken enfant terrible of metal; the Paganini of the electric guitar. His classically inspired, dazzlingly fleet-fingered technique and apocalyptic guitar sound continue to mesmerize listeners today just as it did when the world first felt his Fender-fueled fury in the early 1980s with Steeler, Alcatrazz and Malmsteen’s landmark 1984 solo debut, Rising Force.

Then as now, Malmsteen often worked his magic on a Olympic White 1971 Stratocaster. He bought the guitar in Sweden in 1978 while still a teenager, himself performing the unusual and delicate modification of scalloping the fingerboard. The guitar has taken a beating over the years (and even a burning or two) as Malmsteen’s main stage and studio guitar; played in countless concert appearances and used on each of his many solo albums.